92% of country's overseas registered electors are Keralites

KOZHIKODE

: The

Malayali

's obsession with politics doesn't end at the neighbourhood saloon back home. In fact, take Malayalis out of the country and they will still turn up to vote: expats from the state account for 92% of NRIs who have registered themselves as overseas electors.

The state witnessed a five-fold increase in the number of overseas electors - from 12,653 in 2014 to 66,584 as of January 30, 2019. Though the number is a small fraction of the country's total NRI population of 1.3 crore, the fact that an overwhelming majority of the 71,735 overseas electors registered in the country hails from the state reflects the growing enthusiasm among non-resident Keralites (NRK) to participate in the political process back home. Of the total of 66,584 overseas electors from the state, 3,729 are women while eight third-gender persons have registered as well.

Expat organisations from the state had conducted mass online voter enrolment drives in the Gulf, especially after

Lok Sabha

passed a bill in August 2018 to allow NRIs to appoint proxy voters who can cast their vote. .

As of now, NRIs can vote in their hometown after registering as overseas voters. There is no provision for online voting. Even so, many are enthusiastic. "A large number of expats who registered online failed to become overseas electors due to the delay by district authorities to conduct verification back home. Otherwise, the number of overseas electors from the state would have at least doubled," said K Anwar Naha, president of Dubai unit of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre.


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